South Korean and Kazakh businesses said Tuesday they will strive to expand joint
economic ventures in the energy, research and development (R&D), and
financial services.
Businesses attending the bilateral economic
cooperation committee held on the sidelines of the Seoul Nuclear Security Summit
called for greater investments and to seek new opportunities to promote mutual
growth.
The committee made up of companies and business organizations
like the Korea Electric Power Corp. and the Kazakhstan Electricity Association
also reviewed progress made in the US$8.2 billion Atyrau integrated gas chemical
complex and Balkhash thermal plant.
Local companies Samsung C&T
Corp. and LG Chem Ltd. are involved in the two projects.
Trade between
the two countries currently stands at around $1.1 billion, a 100-fold increase
since the normalization of diplomatic relations in 1992, with South Korea's
investment in the Central Asian country hitting $3 billion so far.
Related to future cooperative ties, companies said R&D in medical equipment
and financial services should be explored, with LG Chem looking at a
petrochemical research facility in Kazakhstan.
Hyundai Motor Co.,
South Korea's largest carmaker, said it wants to set up an assembly line in the
country that can produce small buses for the region.
Organizers for
the committee meeting said that 10 memorandums of understanding have been
reached that aim to improve power line network efficiency, industrial plant
construction and cooperation in the automotive field.
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